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Kurt Rauf
Director/Cameraman

Everyone who loves what they do can recall that one moment when everything clicked into place. That’s when the entire universe seems to say, “this is exactly what you should be doing.” For Kurt, that moment happened while he was in full gross-out zombie makeup, lurching around as a Fake Shemp in the cult classic “The Evil Dead.”

Kurt had met Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell when the two gave a Super8 filmmaking workshop at Kurt’s Detroit high school. The three became friends, and Kurt became a fixture on Raimi’s sets, helping out on short comedies and doing SFX pickup shots (as well as the aforementioned Shemp work) on “The Evil Dead.”

If there’s a job on set, chances are Kurt has done it. He’s been a prop maker and set builder. He’s been a grip and an electrician. For ten years, he was a gaffer and chief lighting technician. He’s lit just about everything, but he was especially well-versed in the challenges of automotive spots, making Detroit’s finest look even finer.

Kurt moved west in 1996, starting as a Director of Photography. Soon, though, his natural ability to direct came forward and so did the Director jobs. Since then, he’s worked for Showtime Networks, Cirque du Soleil, Nevada Power, Southern Nevada Water Authority, MoveOn.org, Penn & Teller’s “Bullshit,” and a host of casinos across the nation.

He’s a man with a deceptively laid-back vibe, because as cool as he seems on the outside, there’s a lot going on inside. You’ll notice he’s both a director and a cameraman, so he’s both an artist and a gearhead. On every project, and even if he’s hired in a “one-or-the-other” role, he’ll still be working all the angles in his mind, whether technical or tonal.

Recently, Kurt reunited with his old friends to DP on the Dark Horse feature "My Name Is Bruce" starring Bruce Campbell & Ted Raimi. He’ll also shoot its upcoming sequel, "Bruce vs. Frankenstein.”

Kurt lives in Las Vegas with his wife, Nancy, and Toby the Wonder Dog.